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Captain Boomerang (Digger Harkness)
History Origin Secretly the illegitimate son of an American soldier and an Australian woman, Harkness was raised in poverty, during which time he developed great skill in making boomerangs, and in using them as weapons. As a young adult, he was hired as a performer and boomerang promoter by a toy company which was, unbeknownst to him, owned by his biological father. Audiences ridiculed him, and a resentful Harkness turned to using his boomerangs for crime. Although he lacked any actual superhuman abilities, he became a recurring enemy of The Flash, typically by devising altered boomerangs which could produce astonishing effects, and using them ruthlessly. He became a staple member of The Rogues, a group of villains dedicated to opposing Flash. Once, he planted special getaway boomerangs in every jail within one hundred miles of Central City, where they would remain invisible until he concentrated his brain waves to materialize them. One year later, he had the chance to use one of them. He was being transported to the state pen, but an anonymous phone call, which had actually been made by Boomerang's father, Aussie Green, said that there was a bomb in the patrol wagon that he was being transported in. The police evacuated the wagon and put Captain Boomerang into temporary custody at the police station. However, he used one of his getaway boomerangs to escape. As he escaped, he hurled a boomerang at Barry Allen for rubbing him the wrong way (a little earlier, the scientist had told one of the police officers not to take off the villain's straight jacket). Barry quickly changed into the Flash, and tried to apprehend Boomerang by creating air gusts, pushing the villain in front of him. However, the Captain contorted his body into the shape of a boomerang, which caused him to hurtle back towards the Flash, knocking him down. All of this had been recorded by Boomerang's father and put into a scrapbook entitled Flash -- This is your Death! Boomerang set Flash up in a machine, that sent the hero hurtling like a boomerang into another dimension, filled with terrible monsters. However, Flash stayed in the shape of a boomerang, knowing that he would be returned to his sender. Foiled, Boomerang and his father tried to get away with a special flying boomerang, but Flash created a waterspout as they flew over a lake, bringing them back down, where Flash could take them to the police headquarters. Suicide Squad Later on, Harkness became a less-than-effective member of the Suicide Squad in exchange for being pardoned for his crimes. However, Captain Boomerang's grating personality and blatant racism (among other things, he constantly referred to another team member, the Bronze Tiger, as an "abo") caused considerable friction among his teammates, and he was considered to be a dangerous, vicious, cowardly and undependable member of the team; dysfunctional even by the Squad's standards. Amanda Waller, the Squad's commanding officer, characterized Captain Boomerang as "a jerk and a screw-up." This was not an undeserved reputation, as, among other things, Harkness simply stood by as his teammate, Mindboggler, was shot in the back. (Mindboggler had earlier used her mind-altering abilities on Harkness to shut him up when he was verbally abusing another team member.) He also manipulated another team member, Slipknot, into running away from the action just to see if the explosive bracelets the Squad members wore really did activate if the wearer attempted to escape. (Unfortunately for Slipknot, they did.) While in the Squad, Harkness also briefly took up the mantle of Mirror Master to commit robberies. However, this career was cut short when he was caught and brought to Waller, who put an end to it, and rescinded the benefits Harkness had been given, such as his apartment in New Orleans and his status as a voluntary member of the Squad. Harkness remained with the Squad until it was disbanded. Identity Crisis Harkness found himself an obsolete villain in the modern world of supervillains. Regularly going up to the supervillain satellite looking for jobs, asking favors from the Calculator, he was at the end of his rope looking for a job to put him on the map again. During this time, Harkness finally reached out to the son he abandoned, Owen Mercer. The two began to bond when Harkness was killed by Jack Drake, father of Tim Drake. Digger had been sent by the real killer to attack Jack Drake, only the killer double-crossed Digger and sent Drake a warning and a pistol to defend himself. Digger managed to kill Drake but not before he was shot himself. The sudden loss of Harkness caused Mercer to take up his father's mantle, and become the second Captain Boomerang. Powers and Abilities *None Known Equipment *Black Lantern Power Battery Weapons *Black Lantern Power Ring *'Boomerangs': Digger carries several boomerangs hidden on his costume, each with special properties. Unless otherwise noted, they are of excellent material strength. Digger can throw these so they will return to him with no risk of damaging himself. :*''Electro-boomerang: Emit spark trails carrying a deadly 5,000 volts, which circle around the target. :*Exploso-boomerang: Detonates on contact, damage to all in one area. :*Gas boomerang: Monstrous intensity tear gas, affects one area. :*Razor boomerang'' :*''Bladed boomerang'' :*''Acid-spewing boomerang'' :*''Sonic boomerang: Excellent intensity sonic attack. :*Gravity boomerang: Creates local gravity field of incredible intensity. :*Weighted boomerangs: Solid-weighted boomerang. :*Preprogrammed boomerangs: These boomerangs are rocket propelled and are preprogrammed to fly to a target, pick up whatever item and returned to a predesignated spot with amazing flight speed and range. Notes *Although this character was originally introduced during DC's Earth-One era of publication, their existence following the events of the 1985-86 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths remains intact. However, some elements of the character's Pre-Crisis history may have been altered or removed for Post-Crisis New Earth continuity, and should be considered apocryphal. Trivia *Coming Soon See Also *Captain Boomerang (Digger Harkness)/Gallery In Other Media *Harkness has made an appearance in the animated series Justice League Unlimited as a member of Task Force X led by Rick Flag. He also appeared later in the episode Flash and Substance. In that episode, he appears in a streamlined, trench-coated version of his traditional costume. Harkness also made an appearance in the episode "Eclipsed", though that character is played by an actor in a commercial the Flash was starring in. He is voiced by Donal Gibson. *Captain Boomerang appeared in LEGO Batman 2 DC Super Heroes. *Captain Boomerang appear in ''Arrow, portrayed by Nick Tarabay. *Captain Boomerang appeared in Suicide Squad, portrayed by Jai Courtney. Links *http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/George_Harkness_(New_Earth) *http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/George_Harkness_(Prime_Earth) *http://www.comicvine.com/george-harkness/29-29992/ Category:Former Rogues Members Category:Former Black Lantern Corps Members Category:White Lantern Corps Members